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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · wound · patient · pound · racket · snap · content · hand

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. cap — a hat
  3. content — the amount
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. content — happy
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. pound — a weight
  9. cap — of ice
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. wound — an injury
  12. snap — to click
  13. hand — help
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. cap — a lid
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. wound — an injury
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. racket — a loud noise
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com